June
2010, Star Party in Huellas de la Naturaleza with
Proxima Sur 70 km away from Buenos Aires.

Buenos Aires, Argentina

DATA

TYPE: Globular Cluster

VISUAL MAGNITUDE: 3.68

SIZE: 36.3 arcs minutes

DISTANCE: 16.000 light years

OBJECT DESCRIPTION AND IMAGE SESSION

Omega Centauri represents the
most massive and brightest stellar system in our Galaxy. Its size spans 150
light years and gathers 10 Million stars which are orbiting its centre. It is
similar to the small known galaxies. It can be seen at naked eye even in
suburban skies and is a splendid target for any kind of binoculars and
telescopes. Omega Centauri had been listed in Ptolemy’s catalogue as a star. In
1677 Edmond Halley was the first to document its non stellar nature. The stars in its center
are very concentrated and seems to be separated only by 0.1 light years from
each other. It is about 12 billion years old.